“Oh, what’s that got to do with it?” said Egholm irritably.
His wife pointed warningly towards the sleeping children. “Sh!” she said. Then, noticing that the cloak had slipped down from Hedvig’s legs, she hastened to tuck it up again. Egholm calmed down.
“Don’t mix up a steam cart and a turbine,” he said when she re-entered the room. “I didn’t take any particular trouble over that steam cart—at any rate, not enough. After all, it was only construction work, that. But a turbine that can reverse—that’s an independent invention. I’d give my heart’s blood to realise it. You know what a friction coupling is, I suppose?”
“Do you mean the thing with the two balls, that swing round and look like an umbrella?”
“Good heavens, no! You’re thinking of a centrifugal regulator valve.”
“Oh well, well, then....”
No, it was no use talking to her; she muddled up the simplest things imaginable. Egholm wrung his hands and was silent.
But a little after, he looked up brightly and suggested they should go and have a look at the machinery now, both together.
Anna shook her head. What an idea!
“Aren’t you a bit interested in my things?”